(IC IV) San Francisco by Night: A Requiem in Fog

[Thundercracker]

Patrick shrugs and says, "That only narrows it down so much. There's a lot of forest on Mount Tam; you can hike a single trail on the mountain for three hours. Then there's Muir Woods, and all the forest in Mill Valley and Stinson areas."

But to the question of the Ghouls, he will reply, "Charles Greco? Yeah, I know who you're talking about. He's a... a scary dude. I figure he's kina' an enforcer or something for Oleander. I have his phone number if that helps. I think I know where is office is too, but I'm less certain." The way his eyes go wide when he says the name 'Charles Greco', belays Patrick's fears of the man.

**************************************************

"Jesus," Julian replies under his breath at, "this is going to become open war with The Carthians. You remember I already raised hell in their compound when we rescued Miho's childe? I do something like that again, and The Rabble will be gunning for our Covenant." There wasn't any panic in the man's voice. Instead, it sounded like Julian was thinking his way through the problem. After a moment he says, "What is your plan? And please tell me you have The Throne's blessing at least!"

"Tony, the Prince's childe, who speaks for him, is helping us coordinate this whole thing," Anna said, "I'm not sure if you are aware, but Reggie Fort is behind many of the incidents in San Francisco the past few nights, and there was an assassination attempt on us by Nova, using Murak and his childe Zach. I don't anticipate going anywhere near their compound. We're going to let word out that the Hounds will head to the Opera House in secret for the Prince's return tonight, a day early. That will force their hand and they'll have to abandon whatever they were planning and move on us there, or be crushed once he's back. When they show up, we spring the trap."

[Haval]

Patrick shrugs and says, "That only narrows it down so much. There's a lot of forest on Mount Tam; you can hike a single trail on the mountain for three hours. Then there's Muir Woods, and all the forest in Mill Valley and Stinson areas."

But to the question of the Ghouls, he will reply, "Charles Greco? Yeah, I know who you're talking about. He's a... a scary dude. I figure he's kina' an enforcer or something for Oleander. I have his phone number if that helps. I think I know where is office is too, but I'm less certain."

On the woods, 'That's what I expected. Finding anything out there would be difficult.' Given what she knew about the statue she didn't have any guarantee that it would stay in the same place.

On Charles Greco, 'He has an office? What does he do for work?'

[Bennosuke]

Julian listens silently till Anna is finished. He replies, "Very well. Who else is joining us? I assume you are prepared for the worst?" There is concern in his voice, but also a growing curiosity, perhaps even excitement.

************************************************** *************

Patrick grins at the question, and with a chuckle replies, "He's actually a chiropractor! He's got like a little clinic in Sausalito actually." It is hard for Rachel to picture the pudgy bald headed man with the maniacal grin "working" on a patient, maybe wearing white scrubs; and the picture actually makes Rachel laugh. Patrick shrugs and then adds, "Though I bet he closes early, before sundown. That way he can get to Oleander early in the night."

[Haval]

Once she'd recovered her composure. 'Oh he's a chiropractor. I've heard all about them. If the stories are true perhaps he'd enjoy being Kindred. I expect I'll have to pay this guy a visit at some point' In Greco's case Rachel would have no reason to be as polite as she was being here.

[Bennosuke]

"Sure, let me give you his address," Patrick says, though there is again that hint of selfish jealously in his voice. He pulls up a google search for "Butterfly Chiropractors", which gives Rachel both the address and phone number for the office.

[Haval]

"Sure, let me give you his address," Patrick says, though there is again that hint of selfish jealously in his voice. He pulls up a google search for "Butterfly Chiropractors", which gives Rachel both the address and phone number for the office.

Rachel will take Patrick's hand that she's been holding the whole time and give it a little kiss. 'Trust me Patrick, if I have to talk to this man I'm likely to be a lot less kind to him then I'm being to you. You've been nothing but helpful.' She'll make a mental note of the address. 'I'm sure I could find that eventually but I appreciate the help.'

[Bennosuke]

Patrick's face reddens at Rachel's touch and then more so at her kiss. Fortunately, she was using the blood trick to force heat through her body, otherwise he would have been met with the icy kiss of the grave. He smiles despite himself, and giving Rachel's hand a little squeeze back says, "Oh, of course. I'm uh, glad to help." He takes a deep breath in and out, and then asks hesitantly, "So, um, are you busy for the rest of the night?"

[Haval]

Patrick's face reddens at Rachel's touch and then more so at her kiss. Fortunately, she was using the blood trick to force heat through her body, otherwise he would have been met with the icy kiss of the grave. He smiles despite himself, and giving Rachel's hand a little squeeze back says, "Oh, of course. I'm uh, glad to help." He takes a deep breath in and out, and then asks hesitantly, "So, um, are you busy for the rest of the night?"

'I think that depends on my colleagues. I may have business with the revolution you mentioned earlier. Let me check.'

Rachel will message Anna, 'I think I might have what I need here. Let me know if you need anything from me tonight.'

[Thundercracker]

Julian listens silently till Anna is finished. He replies, "Very well. Who else is joining us? I assume you are prepared for the worst?" There is concern in his voice, but also a growing curiosity, perhaps even excitement.

************************************************** *************

Patrick grins at the question, and with a chuckle replies, "He's actually a chiropractor! He's got like a little clinic in Sausalito actually." It is hard for Rachel to picture the pudgy bald headed man with the maniacal grin "working" on a patient, maybe wearing white scrubs; and the picture actually makes Rachel laugh. Patrick shrugs and then adds, "Though I bet he closes early, before sundown. That way he can get to Oleander early in the night."

“Some trained ghouls from the Prince’s side most likely, Rachel probably. We’re trying to pull more but obviously the more people we bring the harder it will be to keep a secret,” Anna replied.

[Bennosuke]

Patrick nods his head sheepishly, and waits.

*************************************************

Anna gets Rachel's message via The Pulse:

Rachel will message Anna, 'I think I might have what I need here. Let me know if you need anything from me tonight.'

"Jesus," Julian says again, though this time with a bit of a chuckle, "Well make sure Tony gives us some decent firepower at least." His use of "us" is not missed on Anna.

[Thundercracker]

Patrick nods his head sheepishly, and waits.

*************************************************

Anna gets Rachel's message via The Pulse:



"Jesus," Julian says again, though this time with a bit of a chuckle, "Well make sure Tony gives us some decent firepower at least." His use of "us" is not missed on Anna.

Anna Wu

“I’ll impress upon him the serious consequences of failure,” Anna said, “we’ll get him to bring whatever he has. I’ll message you with details… see you soon?”

After her conversation with Julian, she rejoins the others and receives a message on her phone, then stares at it in disbelief.

“‘Let me know if you need anything?’ Honestly, why isn’t she already here…?” she said.

She replied to Rachel.
“Yes, come to the Prince’s haven,” she texted back, “we’ll fill you in when you arrive.”

[Daishain]

Karl muses, "For the sake of avoiding more conflict than necessary, we probably ought to have help from as many differing factions as possible. That includes the Carthians. Might Nova have a rival we could approach?"

[Haval]

Once she got the message, 'Ah, it seems I may have to cut this short. Otherwise there's a chance that someone will come looking for me.' Presumably Patrick would prefer not to be interrupted. 'Perhaps I could find a way to make it up to you?' Rachel was working under the assumption that Patrick might have some use to her while Oleander was still alive.

[Bennosuke]

When Anna returns, The Prince's childe askes anxiously, "Is he going to help?"

Tony shrugs at Karl's question. "Do you think I've bothered to pay enough attention to the inner politics of The Rabble," he says dismissively. But before anyone can reply, his demeanor changes, "Probably better we don't risk recruiting from within the Carthians. If you are betrayed the whole operation could be flipped on its head, and then it will be your trap rather than Nova's." He pauses for another moment than adds, "Also probably best to invest some times figuring out ways to deepen the charade. Find ways to prove to Nova that The Prince is in the Opera House, other than just spreading rumor."

************************************************

Patrick's face betrays only slight disappointment. "No worries," he says with an effortful grin, "I understand." He takes a deep breath out, then showing a bit of humor says, "How about you just promise to meet me for drinks again soon. Won't hurt to keep getting to know each other... assuming that interests you."

[Haval]

'I would be happy too Patrick. As I said, you've been very helpful. I expect I'll be back in Sausalito at some point soon anyway.' Rachel smiles. 'If I were you I would avoid mentioning me to anyone else. It's possible that Oleander wouldn't understand. But if you happen to find out anything else about what she's doing out in those woods I would be very grateful if you could pass it along.'

[Thundercracker]

When Anna returns, The Prince's childe askes anxiously, "Is he going to help?"

Tony shrugs at Karl's question. "Do you think I've bothered to pay enough attention to the inner politics of The Rabble," he says dismissively. But before anyone can reply, his demeanor changes, "Probably better we don't risk recruiting from within the Carthians. If you are betrayed the whole operation could be flipped on its head, and then it will be your trap rather than Nova's." He pauses for another moment than adds, "Also probably best to invest some times figuring out ways to deepen the charade. Find ways to prove to Nova that The Prince is in the Opera House, other than just spreading rumor."

************************************************

Patrick's face betrays only slight disappointment. "No worries," he says with an effortful grin, "I understand." He takes a deep breath out, then showing a bit of humor says, "How about you just promise to meet me for drinks again soon. Won't hurt to keep getting to know each other... assuming that interests you."

"Yeah, he's in, don't ever say I never did anything for you. He did think we needed more though, I hope you have some well-trained ghouls on staff or something," Anna replied.

"Deepen the charade, hmm..." Anna said.
Would have been perfect if the blood supply had started, she could divert a shipment there... as it was...
"They're going to have spotters... so what if we hired an armored car to arrive there?" she asked.

[Bennosuke]

"Will do," Patrick says with a soft smile. Was there still a sadness behind his eyes?He squeezes Rachel's hand one more time, then half-standing up from his stool, leans over to kiss her once on the cheek. "Have a good night. Stay safe," he says, before indicating that he is going to stay to finish her drink, though he offers to pay any tab that she opened.

As Rachel gets ready to leave, the weight of the night's events fill her head. So much had happened the night before, and there was still so much to do tonight. She gathers her things and starts to head out of the bar, to leave the hotel lobby. However, as she begins to walk, Rachel's eyes are immediately drawn to a pair at a table near the bar's entrance. Seated facing away from her is a young woman, with long brown hair and a slim figure hidden by an oversized green jacket. Rachel recognizes the mortal immediately as the mortal librarian whom she could never seem to stop thinking about. Lucy Fisher worked at the University, and probably thought of Rachel as a friend and fellow night-owl, but this girl was so much more to Rachel. Deep down, Rachel recognized herself in Lucy, or at least whom she had once been. She had vowed to help the Lucy along however she could, somehow believing that if Lucy had succeeded where Rachel's life had stopped, everything, or maybe something would be better.

And here she was, Lucy was sitting at this same bar, completely unaware of Rachel. The vampire could smell her from across the room; her perfume, her skin, her blood. And seated across from her was Victor, the cocky Dragon ally of Anna's. He was dressed in a dark blue suit, and a white poplin shirt with a high collar left unbuttoned at he top. He was talking to Lucy, grinning, until his eyes locked with Rachel's

(OOC: Yep, it's Rachel's touchstone!)

************************************************** ***************

Tony thinks on Anna's idea, and as he does his countence darkens. He opens his mouth to speak, but the thought fades into a sneer. Finally he says, "Very well. I have an idea. We will use my Sire's limousine as bait. I and some of our best Ghouls will take the car first to SFO, then to Opera House. You can have the rest of our security force. Should be about eight guns and all if I take Carlos and Ed with me."

[Haval]

Just before she leaves Rachel will reply to Patrick, 'Oh, I'll be fine, but I should say the same to you. Things aren't the safest at the moment. Look after yourself and I'll be in touch.' After all, he was no use to her dead.

On the way out Rachel is surprised enough to briefly lose her composure. There were a few reasons why Victor might be here with Lucy but none of them were good. For a few moments she'll let her Beast out fully and glare at Victor and dwell on what she wanted to do to him if she got him alone. She hadn't had much reason to fight since she came to America but that didn't mean she hadn't had any practice.

Assuming Victor registered her presence and didn't try to leave or anything, Rachel will walk up to their table and lightly rest her arm on Lucy's shoulder. 'Lucy. Fancy meeting you here. I didn't know you knew Victor.' Perhaps he wasn't going by that name with Lucy, but in that case Rachel wanted to make it as inconvenient for Victor as possible.

[Bennosuke]

Victor absolutely sees Rachel, his gaze locked on her without making direct eye contact as a grimace spreads across his face. As she approaches, Rachel can feel the swelling threat of the Ventrue's Beast; an inaudible animal growl growing louder as Rachel grew closer.

Lucy startles at Rachel's touch, even yelping a little "oh", as she turned around. Face turning immediately flush, Lucy's face turns bright when she recognizes Rachel. But it is Victor who speaks first. "Rachel Edwards? So funny running into you here too," he says, voice just flat enough to show his displeasure.

Still red in the face, Lucy rushes to say, "Oh, we just met," speaking up before she can register the implication in her companion's voice. Hers is touched with a bit of embarrassment.

But Victor speaks up, this time cutting in before she can speak. "First date actually," he says, contorting his face into a mask of sarcastic discomfort, adding, "Dating app and all that. How embarrassing." His gaze narrows, and he stands from his seat. "I don't mean to be rude, but you are interrupting." He places a hand on the table, his eyes focused on Rachel's nose. He was pushing with his Beast, threatening to lash out if he must. He was like a dog at the dog park, lording over the tennis ball and threatening off all other dogs.

[Haval]

First date? Meaning they had probably been talking for a while. 'What a small world.' Rachel doesn't even acknowledge the idea that she was interrupting. 'And how is the date going so far?' To Lucy, 'Victor's a friend of a friend. I didn't realise he was dating again.'

[Bennosuke]

Seeing that the conversation was coming to a close, Tony says, "Very well. It looks like we have the start of a plan. I will plan on taking the limo and arriving around 3:30AM, if you think that is early enough while not being too close to dawn. Will you be able to get everything ready by then? I will have much to take care of myself." He sighs and pulls out his phone and begins tapping away. Moments later, both Anna and Karl's phones blip, as they receive the shared contact information for one Kim Yang. "Kim is the head of our security. You can communicate with her to utilize our security for your plan. She is very dependable, but I recommend coming up with a clear plan before giving her direction," Tony says, then pauses and adds, "Once you are ready, you can see yourselves out. Thank you for your hard work in this. I am sure my Sire will appreciate what you are about to accomplish."

Unless the coterie has anything else they wish to accomplish, they are allowed to leave. An obvious next step would be to go back to the Haven and collect supplies, maybe make sure Fred is safe, but perhaps the King Killers have something else they wish to get to first. You may also want to tell Rachel to meet you somewhere else at this point.

************************************************** *

Victor starts to reply, but Lucy actually speaks up first. "Oh, so far so good," she says, before giving Victor a timid but reassuring smile. To his credit, the Dragon smiles and actually blushes a little.

"It has been so long since we last saw each other," Victor lies, his gaze fixed on Rachel, before returning his attention to Lucy. To her he says, "I didn't realize you knew each other. Small world indeed." He smiles at Lucy again, before taking a practiced sigh and saying to his fellow Kindred, "I'd invite you to join us," though it is clear from his voice that he would not, "but it looks like you were just rushing out. I hope everything is okay. I know things have been... a little hectic lately." There was almost a question to his voice as he says this last bit.

[Haval]

Rachel will note the blush and try to work out what Victor's intent was here. On his question, 'You may want to check in with Anna about that at some point. She's more in the loop then I am at the moment but there's always a chance that you could help her out with some things.'

Spoiler: ooc

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Does Victor seem like he's being deceptive at all. As in is this actually a date and he's not just trying to feed off her.
Wits 3 + Empathy 2
(5d10)[5][10][10][2][9](36)
Any 10s
(5d10)[7][10][2][8][6](33)

[Bennosuke]

(OOC: That's 4 successes)

As far as she can tell, it might be a bit of both! Victor is likely hoping to feed, but he seems genuinely sincere about his date and how Lucy sees him. In fact, it might just be that he is embarrassed about this now that he has been caught by Rachel.

[Haval]

Rachel will watch Victor for a few seconds with a slight smile. Oh it's like that is it? 'Victor you better treat Lucy right or I'm going to be upset with you.' She's careful not to make it look like a threat for Lucy's sake but the implication ought to be there.

[Bennosuke]

Rachel's warning draws a smirk across Victor's face. His voice warm and low, he replies, "Oh you know me. I am nothing but a gentleman." He will turn his gaze from Rachel to Lucy, letting the grin shift into a reassuring smile. He'll give her a wink and then add, "And if I'm not, Lucy I want you to tell Rachel right away!" He raises a hand as if making a pledge.

Lucy chuckles at this, finding this to either be reassuring or at least cute.

Still, somehow it is hard for Rachel to find the same assurance.

[Haval]

Rachel's warning draws a smirk across Victor's face. His voice warm and low, he replies, "Oh you know me. I am nothing but a gentleman." He will turn his gaze from Rachel to Lucy, letting the grin shift into a reassuring smile. He'll give her a wink and then add, "And if I'm not, Lucy I want you to tell Rachel right away!" He raises a hand as if making a pledge.

'Oh I'm counting on it. Perhaps you could let me know when you get home Lucy?' Rachel briefly considered how easy would it be here to drag Lucy away from Victor. Domination would solve the problem here at the expence of creating a few new ones. Ultimately she didn't want to see Lucy upset, especially if she was the cause. 'But I think I need to go. Apparantly I'm very in demand at the moment. Have fun you two.' Before she takes her leave she'll squeeze Lucy gently on the arm as she watches Victor levelly. It wasn't as if he could do anything to Lucy in the middle of the restaurant, but at the same time this wasn't over.

After any response from Victor and Lucy she'll retrieve her coat and leave the restaurant. Whether in her car or in eyesight of the front of the building she will take up a position somewhere where she can watch the front of the building without neccessarily being seen by anyone leaving. She is ok to wait for the pair to leave.

In the meantime she will text Anna. 'Something came up. I ran into your friend Victor. He is 'dating' a friend of mine. She is human and has no idea about what we are. I realise we have other things going on at the moment but if he hurts her I'm going to make him regret it. How much do you trust him to play nice?'

And as a second message, 'If you have a way to drag him away from his date early I will owe you a favour.'

[Thundercracker]

'Oh I'm counting on it. Perhaps you could let me know when you get home Lucy?' Rachel briefly considered how easy would it be here to drag Lucy away from Victor. Domination would solve the problem here at the expence of creating a few new ones. Ultimately she didn't want to see Lucy upset, especially if she was the cause. 'But I think I need to go. Apparantly I'm very in demand at the moment. Have fun you two.' Before she takes her leave she'll squeeze Lucy gently on the arm as she watches Victor levelly. It wasn't as if he could do anything to Lucy in the middle of the restaurant, but at the same time this wasn't over.

After any response from Victor and Lucy she'll retrieve her coat and leave the restaurant. Whether in her car or in eyesight of the front of the building she will take up a position somewhere where she can watch the front of the building without neccessarily being seen by anyone leaving. She is ok to wait for the pair to leave.

In the meantime she will text Anna. 'Something came up. I ran into your friend Victor. He is 'dating' a friend of mine. She is human and has no idea about what we are. I realise we have other things going on at the moment but if he hurts her I'm going to make him regret it. How much do you trust him to play nice?'

And as a second message, 'If you have a way to drag him away from his date early I will owe you a favour.'

Anna's phone buzzed and she glanced at it, then sighed a very long and drawn-out mortal sounding sigh.
"Is this really important considering what's about to go down tonight?" she thought.
She stared at the text for several seconds. She certainly wasn't going to say anything about Victor to Rachel. Tony did say they needed more...

"Son of a-" she muttered, then called Victor's number.
"Hey, need your help again tonight," she said, "Fun times, kind of like last night except tonight it's actually tangential to Ordo business. Can you meet us in... 60 minutes?"

[Bennosuke]

'Oh I'm counting on it. Perhaps you could let me know when you get home Lucy?' Rachel briefly considered how easy would it be here to drag Lucy away from Victor. Domination would solve the problem here at the expence of creating a few new ones. Ultimately she didn't want to see Lucy upset, especially if she was the cause.

"Uh, sure," Lucy replies, though her expression bellies surprises that borders on annoyance. She was friends with Rachel, but maybe she didn't appreciate this sort of intrusion on her personal life. Regardless she does not pull away when Rachel gives her arm a squeeze, and tells her to have a good night, fondness returning to her voice. Victor nods his head and hastily wishes Rachel good night as well.

As Rachel heads out the door, she can hear Victor's phone ring.

(OOC: What now?)

************************************************** ********

Anna calls Victor. The phone rings three times, before it is immediately sent to voice mail. Moments later, Anna gets a Pulse message from her fellow Dragon. Perhaps this interrupts her leaving a voice message, if she chooses to do so. It reads, "Busy hunting. Can I call you in an hour?"

[Thundercracker]

"Uh, sure," Lucy replies, though her expression bellies surprises that borders on annoyance. She was friends with Rachel, but maybe she didn't appreciate this sort of intrusion on her personal life. Regardless she does not pull away when Rachel gives her arm a squeeze, and tells her to have a good night, fondness returning to her voice. Victor nods his head and hastily wishes Rachel good night as well.

As Rachel heads out the door, she can hear Victor's phone ring.

(OOC: What now?)

************************************************** ********

Anna calls Victor. The phone rings three times, before it is immediately sent to voice mail. Moments later, Anna gets a Pulse message from her fellow Dragon. Perhaps this interrupts her leaving a voice message, if she chooses to do so. It reads, "Busy hunting. Can I call you in an hour?"

“Yes, some Ordo work tonight. Also, don’t hurt the girl. Unless Rachel breaks a Tradition, you’re on your own; I won’t be able to help you.”

[Daishain]

While Anna tries to contact Victor, Karl asks Tony for permission to work with the Invictus suppliers for arms, then begins working to that effect

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Presence+politics+status+willpower-5on the DL penalty (3d10)[8][8][6](22)
ten again (3d10)[1][4][7](12)